Bees Show Ability to Slow Aging Effects

Bees Show Ability to Slow Aging EffectsBees Show Ability to Slow Aging Effects - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.

Almost all animals experience cognitive and learning changes as they age. Bees lose their learning abilities for new tasks when they start foraging for pollen, while the bees that stay and watch after the larvae continue to increase their learning abilities.

So researchers at Arizona State University tried some role reversal, putting the foraging bees in charge of watching the larvae.

When their new roles were taken on, the bees adapted and were able to continue developing their learning skills, effectively reversing the effects of aging on their brain.

Researchers conducting the experiment also noticed changes of proteins in the bee's brains. This change led scientists to an interesting theory. "Maybe social interventions like changing how you deal with your surroundings are something we can do today to help our brains stay younger. " said an associate professor at ASU and lead author of the study.

Many more years of research is needed before the discovery can be developed into drugs that could benefit humans, but other anti-aging products are already using derivatives from bees including bee venom in skin care products.